Charming, California

Charming is a town in San Joaquin County, California. Located 30 miles from both Stockton and Lodi, it was founded in 1859 during the Gold Rush-era population boom in the Redwood and Central Valley regions, and two railroad surveyors felt that it was the last "charming" place to build a railroad station before the large and flat Central Valley. After the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, a small influx of settlers from the Bay Area sought a simple life in Charming, and, during the post-World War II baby boom, housing developers purchased several farmsteads and developed them with roads, utilities, and housing. It maintained classic Americana looks and structure over the years, and it became a rural and working middle-class town dominated by Oswald Beef, Oswald Lumber, and Oswald Construction. In 2008, the Charming Police Department went defunct and was replaced by the San Joaquin County Sheriffs Department, which established the Charming/Morada substation. The town was notably home to the Sons of Anarchy MC, which held immense power both criminally and politically. In 2008, Charming had a population of 14,679 people.